US journalists on trial in Pyongyang amid raised tensions on Korean peninsula

Two American journalists accused of 'espionage' went on trial in North Korea on Thursday as the rogue Communist state continued to raise tensions with the international community following last week's nuclear test.

A South Korean protester displays portraits of American journalists detained in North KoreaPhoto: AP

By Peter Foster in Beijing

7:04PM BST 04 Jun 2009

The two women, Euna Lee and Laura Ling of the California-based Current TV outlet, face up to 10 years of hard labour if convicted of charges relating to their arrest in March after they allegedly strayed into North Korean territory while on a reporting assignment.

Analysts said that it was likely that Pyongyang would seek to use the two women as a bargaining chip in future negotiations with the US, however Washington made clear on Thursday that it would not respond to bullying or provocation from the North.

The announcement of the trial also came as a North Korea patrol vessel strayed briefly across a disputed maritime boundary with South Korea but retreated after receiving a warning, according to military officials in Seoul.

Military forces on the Korean peninsula are at their highest state of alert for three years following North Korea's second nuclear bomb test, with military analysts fearing a repeat of the naval skirmishes that occurred in 1999 and 2002.

US defence officials also say that Pyongyang is continuing with preparations for another long-range ballistic missile test.

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The potentially provocative actions come as diplomats at the UN security council continue to argue for a second week over how best to punish North Korea for its nuclear test.

The United States and its allies, Japan and South Korea, are pushing for punitive financial sanctions against Pyongyang while China and Russia argue for a softer line in the hope that North Korea will return to the stalled Six Party nuclear disarmament talks.

As discussions continue in New York, James Steinberg, the deputy US Secretary of State, warned that Washington would not reward Pyongyang with negotiations for making provocations, a tactic tried by the last Bush administration following North Korea's first nuclear test in 2006.

"North Korea would be mistaken if it thinks it can make provocations and then get what it wants through negotiation as it did in the past. The US won't repeat the same mistake again," he said on a visit to the South Korean capital.

Mr Steinberg is expected to arrive in Beijing on Fri for a fresh round of talks with China, which has condemned the North Korean test, but is apparently resisting US demands for tough measures against Pyongyang.

As negotiations continue between the five permanent members of the Security Council, there were hints on Thursday that the US might take unilateral action against Pyongyang if it couldn't reach an acceptable deal at the Security Council.

Anonymous US sources quoted in South Korean media suggested that Pyongyang's practice of printing high-quality counterfeit US dollar bills could be used as a pretext for unilateral US financial sanctions against the regime of Kim Jong-il.

The measures could reprise 2005 financial sanction which effectively cut North Korea off from the international banking system, infuriating Pyongyang to the point where it pulled out of disarmament talks for a year.